Readily assembleable kite construction



Feb. 21, 1967 c. o. DAGGETT 3,305,197

READILY ASSEMBLEABLE KITE CONSTRUCTION Filed March 24, 1965 /8 A97 i 4 l 494 B4" 112 1 L- -J .i' j w w 4m 2 W7 FIG. 6

l. ay 45L FIG. 7 M1 /71 /7 I mm! INVENTOR. 6424 0. B44457? United States Patent 3,305,197 READILY ASfiEMBLEABLE IQTE (IQNSTRUCTIQN Carl fi Daggett, 7700 blaster Ave, Van Nuys, Qalif. 94-1105 Filed Mar. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 442,342 Claims. (Cl. 24-4153) Generally speaking, the present invention relates to the kite art and, more particularly, pertains to a readily assembleable kite construction which, when fully assembled, is of a novel three dimensional configuration having a centrally positioned stabilizing member lying in a substantially vertical plane and transversely carrying, in a substantially transversely symmetrical manner, a thin sheet horizontal wing means which is, in itself, not sufficiently stiff to support the kite when airborne, but which is adapted to be provided, when assembled, with a laterally directed wing stiffener member which provides sulficient lateral stiffening to the wing means to allow it to effectively resist the air pressure thereagainst during airborne flight of the assembled kite.

In one preferred form of the invention, it is initially supplied in a knocked down or disassembled kit form having the wing means in two separate folded up left and right wing portions which are adapted to lie flat in folded up relationship and closely adjacent to the stiff vertical stabilizing manner, with the laterally directed wing stiffener member being in multiple sections comprising multiple elements (in one form comprising two such stiffener elements) provided with junction sleeve means which may be employed when the kite is assembled for rigidly alignedly interconnecting said stiffener member elements.

Also in one preferred form, coupling means is provided for effectively coupling the assembled stiffener member with respect to the assembled wing means and, in one exemplary form, this may comprise a wing tip coupling means at or adjacent to each of the left and right tips of the wing means and also may include a central or intermediate coupling means positioned adjacent to the top of the vertical stabilizer means and the junction of the wing means thereto for effectively and firmly fastening the corresponding central portion of the assembled wing stiffener member with respect to the wing means and the top edge of the centrally positioned vertical stabilizer member.

In one preferred exemplary form, the above-mentioned wing tip coupling means may comprise fold-over fastening tab panel means provided with adhesive means, which, in one exemplary form, may be pressure-sensitive adhesive means, adapted to be adhesively fastened to the corresponding end surface portion of the wing means with the corresponding end of said wing stiffener member rigidly fastened therebetween.

Also in one preferred exemplary form, the central or intermediate coupling means referred to above may comprise a tensile tie member adapted to be normally tied around the central portion of said wing stiffener member and the corresponding adjacent and immediately underlying central portion of the wing means and the upper edge portion of the centrally positioned vertical stabilizing member for firmly fastening same together.

It will be noted that the above-described preferred exemplary form of the invention comprises an exemplary embodiment thereof which makes it possible for all of the elements of the kite construction, prior to assembly, to be contained within a very small package or container of substantially flat configuration, thus facilitating shipment and storage thereof and reducing the ultimate cost to the purchaser of the kit for the production of the 3,35 ,l97 Patented Feb. 21, 1967 readily assembleable kite construction of the present in vention.

Incidentally, it should be noted that, in one preferred exemplary form, the central vertical stabilizing member may comprise a simulated figure of an animal, person, or any other desired object, such as the horse illustrated in the drawings, although not specifically limited thereto.

With the above points in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel readily assembleable kite construction, both in final assembled form and in preassembled kit form, of the character referred to herein, having any or all of the advantages referred to herein, and including any or all of the features referred to herein, generically and/or specifically, and individually or in combination, and which is of extremely simple, inexpensive, easy-to-assemble construction adapted for ready mass manufacture and convenient small space volume shipment and storage-all at very low cost whereby to be conducive to widespread use thereof.

Further objects are implicit in the detailed description which follows hereinafter (which is to be considered as exemplary of, but not specifically limiting, the present invention), and said objects will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful study of the detailed description which follows hereinafter.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention, one exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the hereinbelow-described figures of the accompanying single drawing sheet and is described in detail hereinafter.

FIG. 1 is a reducedsize, three-dimensional, pictorial view illustrating one exemplary embodiment of the invention after it has been completely assembled and is actually in the act of being flown by a person holding the remote end of the kite string (said kite string being broken away and said remote end thereof and said person not being shown for reasons of drawing simplicity).

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrates the wing means as seen in direct end elevation rather than at an angle as viewed in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the device in partially assembled but not completely assembled form with the wing means having been fastened with respect to the central vertical stabilizer means but with the two-element wing stiffener member being shown in disassembled exploded relationship with respect to the two elements and the interconnecting junction sleeve means thereof, and also with respect to the wing tip coupling means at opposite ends of the wing means, and with respect to the central coupling means at the center thereof for fastening the stiffener member, when fully assembled, in stiffening relationship with respect to the wing means.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the initial relationship of each of the two wing tip coupling means, such as would be seen when viewed along the plane indicated by the arrows 44 of FIG. 3, but prior to opening up each of the wing tip coupling means into the open relationship shown in FIG. 3 for subsequent engagement with corresponding opposite ends of the wing stiffening member. In other words, each of said wing tip coupling means, when initially supplied in a kit prior to assembly, is in the closed relationship shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional, detailed view of the portions of FIG. 4 enclosed within the broken line circle designated by the arrow 5.

FIG. 6 is a view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 6-5 of FIG. 1 and illustrates a typical one of the two wing tip coupling means after having been moved from the open relationship shown in FIG. 3 into engaged rigidly fastened relationship with the corresponding end of the fully assembled wing stiffener member of FIG. 3, and it also represents the way the opposite wing tip coupling means of FIG. 1 would look in cross section.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional detailed view of the fragmentary portion of FIG. 6 enclosed within the broken line ellipse and designated by the arrow 7.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view, taken in the direction of the arrows 88 of FIG. 1 and clearly illustrates the interconnecting junction sleeve means fastening the two elements of the wing stiffener member rigidly together and also clearly illustrates the central or intermediate coupling means fastening said joined wing stiffener member with respect to the center portion of the wing means and the upper edge of the vertical stabilizer member.

Generally speaking, the readily assembleable kite construction of the present invention is adapted to be assembled into a complete kite, such as is generally designated at 11 in FIGS. 1 and 2, which comprises 2. normally centrally positioned, flat, thin-sheet, planar, stiff, center, stabilizing member 12, which, in the example illustrated, simulates a figure of a horse as seen in lateral elevation, but which is not specifically so limited in all forms of the invention, although this does provide interest and appeal to a child using the kite.

The center stabilizing member 12 is adapted to be provided with a thin-sheet horizontal wing means, such as is generally designated at 13, which is usually of relatively flexible material, such as paper or the like, although very thin-sheet flexible plastic film or material may be employed in lieu thereof. Said thin-sheet horizontal wing means 13 has what might be termed left and right wing portions 13L and 13R effectively centrally fastened in a laterally symmetrical manner with respect to the center stabilizing member 12, usually adjacent an upper longitudinally intermediate edge portion thereof, such as the upper back portion of the horse simulated by said stabilizing member 12, as designated by the location indicated at 14, and which, incidentally, is the normal location where a rider might sit upon a horse.

In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, the left and right wing portions 13L and 13R are initially actually separate pieces of paper and are centrally provided with festening means, such as generally designated at 15, for fastening them in said laterally symmetrical manner with respect to said top edge 14 of the center stabilizing member 12.

It should be noted that the left and right wing portions 13L and 13R, respectively, have flexible, unstiffened untightened, unreinforced, completely free and unconstrained front and rear edges, designated by the reference numeral 13L at both the front and rear edges of the left wing portion 13L, and designated by the reference numeral 13R at both the front and rear edges of the right wing portion 13R. In other words, as pointed out above, each of said left and right wing portions 13L and 13R, respectively, can be made of a piece of paper and need not have any expensive and diflicult-to-assemble stiffening or tightening reinforcing members mounted along the front and rear peripheral edges thereof, as is required of virtually all prior art kite constructions. This is made possible by reason of the novel construction of the present invention providing a front-to-rear stiffener for the center part of the wing portions 13L and 13R, respectively, as referred to in considerable detail hereinafter, and additionally providing lateral stiffening of the complete flexible thin-sheet horizontal wing means 13-, made up of the two joined left and right wing portions 13L and 13R, respectively, as referred to in considerable detail hereinafter. Thus, the manufacture and assembly of the device is greatly reduced in cost and is greatly simplified as compared with conventional prior art kite constructions of the most nearly similar types.

It will be noted that said fastening means 15, in the exemplary form illustrated, comprises adhesive means 16 (best shown in FIG. 8) which may be pressure-sensitive adhesive means, in one preferred form, although not specifically so limited in all forms of the invention, adapted to be placed in lateral, fastening, adhesively engaged relationship with oppositely laterally directed and outwardly facing side surface portions of said top edge 14 of said center vertical stabilizing member 12 for providing the above-mentioned fastening means generally desig nated at 15. However, various other types of fastening means, including mechanical fastening means or any other functional equivalent may be employed in lieu of the arrangement shown in FIG. 8, and, in certain forms of the invention, the left and right wing portions 13L and 13R may be integrally interconnected and at the center thereof may be provided with appropriate fastening means functionally equivalent to that generally designated at 15 for fastening same to the upper edge 14 of the vertical stabilizing member 12. It should be noted that the vertical stabilizing member 12 being stiff and having the centrally positioned fastening means 15 joining each of the left and right wing portions 13L and 13R thereto, may be said to effectively define and comprise a front-to-rear stiffener for the wing portions 13L and 13R joined to the vertical stabilizing member 12, with said front-torear stiffener being also designated by the reference numeral 12, as is perhaps best shown in FIG. 8 of the drawing.

The flexible wing means 13 is adapted to be provided with a laterally directed wing stiffener member for effectively laterally stiffening the otherwise very flexible and non-stiff wing means 13 so it will be capable of resisting air pressure thereagainst during air-borne flight of the complete kite 11 in a manner such as is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the exemplary form illustrated, the stiffener member is generally designated at 17 and comprises left and right stiffener elements 17L and 17R and junction sleeve means 20 adapted to be slipped over the inner aligned ends of the left and right stiffener member elements 17L and 17R for rigidly interconnecting and joining same together to comprise the effective counterpart of an integral stiffener member 17 of the complete over-all length of said joined interconnected stiffener member elements 17L and 17R.

Also in the exemplary form illustrated, said stiffener member 17 is adapted to overlie the wing means 13, although in various forms of the invention it might be otherwise positioned with respect to the wing means 13. As illustrated, it is adapted to be placed over the wing means 13, which have had the previously closed wing tip coupling means, generally indicated at 18, opened from the closed relationship, such as is exemplified with respect to one of said wing tip coupling means 18 in FIG. 4 into the open relationship clearly shown in FIG. 3 so that the outer tips 171 of opposite ends of the assembled wing stiffener member 17 will lie just inside of the outwardly extending unfolded fastening tab means 1ST of said opened up wing tip coupling means 18, which have adhesive means on the inner surfaces thereof, as indicated at 18A. Then said adhesive surfaces 18A of said tabs 1ST can be folded inwardly and downwardly into firm sealed relationship with respect to the corresponding underlying surface areas of the tip portions of the wing means 13 with the corresponding tip ends '17T of said wing stiffener member 17 firmly fastened therebetween as is clearly shown in both FIG. 1 in a pictorial manner, in cross section in FIG. 6 and in enlarged sectional fragmentary detail in FIG. 7.

When both of the wing tip coupling means 18 are so firmly fastened and engaged with respect to the tips 17T of the wing stiffener member 17, then a central or intermediate coupling means which, in the exemplary form illustrated, is shown as comprising a tensile tie member 19, is tied around the central portion of the assembled stiffener member 17 (actually, around the interconnecting junction sleeve 20 thereof as is clearly shown in FIG.

8) and is passed downwardly through corresponding apertures 21 in the adjacent wing portions 13L and 13R and a corresponding aperture 22 in the upper edge 14 of the center vertical stabilizer means 12 and is tied in a knot, thus firmly fastening the central portion of the wing stiffener member 17 both with respect to the wing means 13 and the upper edge 14 of the vertically positioned stabilizer member 12. However, said central or intermediate coupling means 19 may be modified somewhat from the arrangement just described and illustrated within the broad scope of the present invention.

It should be clearly noted that the lateral stiffener member, generally designated at 17, effectively draws the left and right wing portions 13L and 14R outwardly into a taut or stretched-out relationship and effectively laterally stiffens same to an extent such that, taken in conjunction with the previously mentioned front-to-rear stiffening provided by the stiff center vertical stabilizer and stiffening member 12, the fully assembled complete wing 13 may be said to assume a fully stiffened form, both laterally and in a fore-and-aft direction and it will be found that the peripheral edges of the complete wing 13, as indicated at 13L and 13R, are now quite stiff even though they are initially extremely flexible, unstiffened, untightened, unreinforced, completely free and unconstrained in themselves except for the stiffening effectively provided thereto by the front-to-rear stiffener and stabilizer 12 and lateral stiffener 17, each of which it will be noted is not positioned along the otherwise completely flexible peripheral wing edges 13L and 13R. Thus, said wing edges 13L and 13R are effectively stiffened without the necessity of actually locating stiffening or reinforcing members therealong in the conventional prior art manner, and this greatly reduces the cost of manufacture and simplifies the assembly of the device and is one of the major advantages of the present invention over the most nearly similar prior art constructions.

The kite construction is then fully assembled in the manner shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and is provided with a flexible coupling tensile member 23 connected to apertures 24; and 25 carried in longitudinally spaced forward and rearward lower connection portions 25 and 27. r spectively, of said stabilizing member 12 for adjustable coupling attachment with respect to a conventional kite string, such as that shown at 28 in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the usual manner.

It should be noted that, prior to assembly of the various elements of the improved kite construction of the present invention when it may be supplied in flat knit form in a package or container, the adhesive means 18A comprising part of the wing tip coupling means 13 and the adhesive means 16 comprising part of the fastening means 15 at the inner ends of the left and right wing means portions 13L and 13R are normally folded with respect to the adjacent portions of the Wing means 13 so as to completely cover the adhesive means when it is of the pressure-sensitive type. When the kit is to be assembled, then said inner and outer portions of the wing means 13 are digitally grasped and opened up, thus exposing the adhesive means 18A and 16 for the assembly purposes previously described.

It should be noted that, in certain forms of the invention, the stiffener member 17 may be of integral construc tion, thus not requiring the interconnecting junction sleeve 20. Also, the stiffener member 17 may be made of wood, plastic, or any other suitable material.

It should be understood that the figures and the specific description thereof set forth in this application are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention to the precise and detailed specific structure shown in the figures and specifically described hereinbefore. Rather, the real invention is intended to include substantially equivalent constructions embodying the basic teachings and inventive concept of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A readily assembleable kite construction comprising: a flat thin-sheet planar stiff center stabilizing member normally adapted to lie in a central position in a substantially vertical plane when the kite construction is fully assembled; thin-sheet horizontal flexible wing means having left and right substantially similar flexible wing portions each having flexible, unstiffened, untightened, unreinforced, completely free and unconstrained front and rear edges, said wing portions being effectively centrally provided with fastening means for fastening same in a laterally symmetrical manner with respect to said center stabilizing member and thereby defining a frontto-rear stiffener for said wing portions joined thereto; and a normally laterally directed wing stiffener member adapted to lie substantially along said wing means in horizontally laterally directed substantially parallel relationship with respect thereto and effectively provided with coupling means for normally coupling same with respect to said wing means in a taut manner for effectively horizontally laterally stiffening same and providing sufficient lateral rigidity to said wing means to resist air pressure thereagainst during air-borne flight, said coupling means comprising a pair of wing tip coupling means carried adjacent to corresponding outer wing tip portions of said left and right wing portions of said wing means and centrally positioned intermediate coupling means positioned adjacent to a center portion of said wing means and said normally vertically oriented center stabilizing member fastened thereto.

2. A kite construction as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said wing tip coupling means comprises a fastening tab panel member adapted to be positioned immediately vertically adjacent to a corresponding end surface area portion of the corresponding end of said wing means with the corresponding end of said stiffening member positioned and fastened therebetween, and being provided with suitable adhesive fastening means on the engaging inner surface of said fastening tab panel member for firmly joining same together.

3. A kite construction as defined in claim 1, wherein said intermediate coupling means comprises a tensile tie member adapted to be normally tied around and engage a central portion of said stiffener member, a corresponding adjacent central portion of said wing means, and a corresponding portion of said center vertical stabilizing member for firmly fastening same together.

4. A kite construction as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said wing tip coupling means comprises a fastening tab panel member adapted to be positioned immediately vertically adjacent to a corresponding end surface area portion of the corresponding end of said wing means with the corresponding end of said stiffening member positioned and fastened therebetween, and being provided with suitable adhesive fastening means on the engaging inner surface of said fastening tab panel member for firmly joining same together, said intermediate coupling means comprising a tensile tie member adapted to be normally tied around and engage a central portion of said stiffener member, a corresponding adjacent central portion of said wing means, and a corresponding portion of said center vertical stabilizing member for firmly fastening same together.

5. A kite construction as defined in claim 1, wherein said stiffener member comprises multiple stiffener elements and interconnecting junction sleeve means for rigidly interconnecting same in lateral alignment.

6. A kite construction as defined in claim 1, wherein said center vertical stiff thin-sheet stabilizing member comprises a simulated figure as seen in lateral elevation.

7. A kite construction as defined in claim 1, wherein said left and right wing member portions are initially separate and non-integral and are initially provided with pressure-sensitive adhesive-surfaced inner edge fastening tab means adapted to be placed in lateral fastening adhesively engaged relationship with opposite laterally directed, side surface portions of said center vertical stabilizing member at a longitudinally intermediate location.

8. A readily assembleable kite construction comprising: a fiat thin-sheet planar stiff center stabilizing member normally adapted to lie in a central position in a substantially vertical plane when the kite construction is fully assembled; thin-sheet horizontal flexible wing means having left and right substantially similar flexible wing portions each having flexible, unstiffened, untightened, unreinforced, completely free and unconstrained front and rear edges, said wing portions being effectively centrally provided with fastening means for fastening same in a laterally symmetrical manner with respect to said center stabilizing member adjacent to an upper longitudinally intermediate edge portion thereof and thereby defining a front-to-rear stiffener for said wing portions joined thereto; and a normally laterally directed wing stiffener member adapted to lie substantially vertically adjacent to and immediately over the top surface of said Wing means in a horizontally laterally directed substantially parallel relationship with respect thereto and effectively provided with coupling means for normally coupling same with respect to said wing means in a taut manner for effectively horizontally laterally stiffening same and providing sufificient lateral rigidity to said wing means to resist air pressure thereagainst during air-borne flight, said coupling means comprising a pair of wing tip coupling means carried adjacent to corresponding outer wing tip portions of said left and right wing portions of said wing means and centrally positioned intermediate coupling means positioned adjacent to a center portion of said wing means and said normally vertically oriented center stabilizing member fastened thereto, each of said wing tip coupling means comprising a folded-over fastening tab panel member adapted to overlie a corresponding end surface area portion of the corresponding end of said Wing means with the corresponding end of said stiffening member positioned and fastened therebetween, and being provided with suitable pressure-sensitive adhesive fastening means on the engaging inner surface of said fastening tab panel member for firmly joining same together, said intermediate coupling means comprising a tensile tie member adapted to be normally tied around and engage a central portion of said stiffener member, a corresponding adjacent and immediately underlying central portion of said wing means, and said upper edge portion of said center vertical stabilizing member for firmly fastening same together; said left and right wing member portions being initially separate and nonintegral and being initially provided with pressure-sensitive adhesive-surfaced inner edge fastening tab means adapted to be placed in lateral fastening adhesively engaged relationship with opposite late-rally directed, side surface portions of said top edge of said center vertical stabilizing member at said longitudinally intermediate location; and a flexible coupling tensile member effectively connected between longitudinally spaced forward and rearward lower connection portions of said center vertical stabilizing member for adjustable coupling attachment with respect to a conventional kite string.

9. A kite construction as defined in claim 8, wherein said stiffener member comprises a pair of stiffener elements and an interconnecting junction sleeve means for rigidly interconnecting same in lateral alignment.

10. A kite construction as defined in claim 3, wherein said center vertical stiff thin-sheet stabilizing member comprises a simulated figure of a horse as seen in lateral elevation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,071,807 2/1937 Wolff 244153 2,257,298 9/1941 Hahn 244-154 2,744,702 5/1956 Briggs 244154 2,788,945 4/1957 Bedford 244-153 2,969,946 1/1961 Andrews 244-154 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Examiner.

P. E. SAUBERER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A READILY ASSEMBLEABLE KITE CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING: A FLAT THIN-SHEET PLANAR STIFF CENTER STABILIZING MEMBER NORMALLY ADAPTED TO LIE IN A CENTRAL POSITION IN A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL PLANE WHEN THE KITE CONSTRUCTION IS FULLY ASSEMBLED; THIN-SHEET HORIZONTAL FLEXIBLE WING MEANS HAVING LEFT AND RIGHT SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR FLEXIBLE WING PORTIONS EACH HAVING FLEXIBLE, UNSTIFFENED, UNTIGHTENED, UNREINFORCED, COMPLETELY FREE AND UNCONSTRAINED FRONT AND REAR EDGES, SAID WING PORTIONS BEING EFFECTIVELY CENTRALLY PROVIDED WITH FASTENING MEANS FOR FASTENING SAME IN A LATERALLY SYMMETRICAL MANNER WITH RESPECT TO SAID CENTER STABILIZING MEMBER AND THEREBY DEFINING A FRONTTO-REAR STIFFENER FOR SAID WING PORTIONS JOINED THERETO; AND A NORMALLY LATERALLY DIRECTED WING STIFFENER MEMBER ADAPTED TO LIE SUBSTANTIALLY ALONG SAID WING MEANS IN HORIZONTALLY LATERALLY DIRECTED SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT THERETO AND EFFECTIVELY PROVIDED WITH COUPLING MEANS FOR NORMALLY COUPLING SAME WITH RESPECT TO SAID WING MEANS IN A TAUT MANNER FOR EFFECTIVELY HORIZONTALLY LATERALLY STIFFENING SAME AND PROVIDING SUFFICIENT LATERAL RIGIDITY TO SAID WING MEANS TO RESIST AIR PRESSURE THEREAGAINST DURING AIR-BORNE FLIGHT, SAID COUPLING MEANS COMPRISING A PAIR OF WING TIP COUPLING MEANS CARRIED ADJACENT TO CORRESPONDING OUTER WING TIP PORTIONS OF SAID LEFT AND RIGHT WING PORTIONS OF SAID WING MEANS AND CENTRALLY POSITIONED INTERMEDIATE COUPLING MEANS POSITIONED ADJACENT TO A CENTER PORTION OF SAID WING MEANS AND SAID NORMALLY VERTICALLY ORIENTED CENTER STABILIZING MEMBER FASTENED THERETO. 